Cover for sap-buckets.



F. E. KINNEY.

COVER FOR SA P BUCKETS.

DEC. 10, 1914.

PatentedJune 13, 1916.

FRANK EZRA KINNEY, OF JERIC'HO, VERMONT.

COVER- FOR SAP-BUGKETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13', 1 916.

Application filed December 10, 1914. Serial- No. 876,453.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK E. KINNEY, a

' citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jericho, in the county of Chittenden and State of Vermont, have invented a new an Improved Cover for Sap-Buckets, of which the following is' a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates more particularly to buckets to be used for collecting maple sugar sap, and embodies various features designed to; promote efficiency in serving the special purpose mentioned.

More specifically, objects of the invention are to provide a bucket cover that will permit of the buckets being nested without separately packing the covers; to provide'a cover attachable to various forms of sap buckets whether the latter are used with a' sap spout entering laterally through the side of the bucket, or with a spout on which the buckets are hung so that the rim of the bucket will be below the spout; to provide a cover hinged at the side opposite the spout; to provide a bucket having a hinged connection of a character that will permit the cover to be suspended on the bucket at the outside thereof in a substantially vertical position with the bottom of the cover above the bottom of the bucket; to provide means for readily attaching and detaching the cover, and to provide in connection with the cover, a target that will require the minimum amount of manipulation to dispose the target in the two positions indicating respectively that the bucket is emptied or to be emptied.

i The invention will be particularly explained in the detailed description followmg. Reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cover embodying my invention, showing the same applied to a sap bucket, the latter being partly broken away to indicate one arrangement of sap spout; Fig. 2 is a front view 0 the cover applied to the bucket; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cover detached; and Fig. 4;

'is a fragmentary detail on a larger scale" showing thehinge ofthe cover in side elevation, and indicating a portion of the bucket in vertical section.

In the drawings there is shown one form of sap bucket A, together with a known arrangement of sap spout B, which extends through the side of the bucket when the spout is entered into the tree.

In'carrying out my invention in accordance with the illustrated example, the cover 10 is carried on a hinging and sustaining device designated generally by the numeral 11,

the hinge being equipped with clips designated generally by the numeral 12 adapted to be attached to the bucket A at the top, or to be detached therefrom.

It will be observed'that the hinge knuckles 10 of the cover engage an elevated central bar 13 supported, in the illustrated example, by upstanding side members 14 which are integral with lateral arms 15 that extend in opposite directions from the upstanding members 14. The arms 15 terminate in the clips 12, and preferably thehinge attachment and its clips and the arms 15 are formed integral from wire or a thin rod.

The lateral extending'arms 15 with the attachments range forwardly on preferably curved lines from the upstanding members 14 of the hinge bar to the'clips 12, so as to be engaged under the head a at the top of the bucket A. The clips 12 are given a form so that they may slip over the topof the bucket at the rim A while the arms 15 engage under the rim. In the example shown, the wire or rod extends from the outer end of an arm 15 downwardly, as at 16, then is returned on itself in an upward direction across the arm 15 and above the latter, and is formed into a spring loop 18, the terminal 19 being disposed in a downward direction. that when the clips are slipped over the top of the bucket, the outer members 16, 17, of each clip and the inner member 19 of the clip will be resilient, and will yield to the entrance of the rim A, so that the members 19 lie at the inside of the bucket. lhe resiliency of the elements cause the lateral arms .15 to spring beneath the rim A, thereby firmly holding the cover onthe bucket with the hinge connection above the bucket rim.

f It is tobe noted that the varched central element 13 is offset outwardly beyond the vertical plane of the arms18.

With the'described construction the cover 10 may be swung from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 above and covering the bucket, to the position indicated in dotted The arrangement is such bucket at the top,

the bucket, I

a number of trees,

quently one thousand, the sap in the buckets by means of gathering lines in Fig. 1, in which the cover is hung in a substantially vertical position at the outside of the bucket. The result is that a series of buckets may be nested, the usual number nested in the trade being fifty. Each successive bucket that is nested in the one below will have its cover thrown to the outside of the next lower bucket, whereby the covers of the respective nested buckets will overlap and be disposed in a line at the outside of the row of buckets. Thus it will be clear that the buckets may be nested while retaining the cover on the bucket, and will not require that the covers be separately packed.

The hinge of the cover is diametrically opposite to the spout side of the bucket; the opposite side of the cover from the hinge will rest on the rim of the bucket adjacent to the spout B, while the hinged end will be disposed above the rim to provide a ventilating opening. Moreover, the elevating of the hinged end of the cover will so dispose the cover when'thrown to the outside, that the bottom edge of the cover will not extend below the bottom derstood that in practice the depth of the bucket is about equal to the diameter of the and therefore about equal to the width of the cover, this being the general practice in the trade.

It is often the practice to suspend a bucket from a spout by providing a hook or loop on the bucket above the rim, so that the rim when the bucket is hung on the spout will be below the spout. In order to insure that the cover will conform to the position of the spout, whether above or below the rim of provide on the cover a housing 20 at the spout side of the cover. The said housing is formed by pressing the material of the cover upwardly, the housing decreasing from the spout edge of the cover toward the hinge side, the housing finally merging into the material of the cover adjacent to the hinge. The housing thus provides a depression at the inside of the cover, the depression opens at one edge opposite the hinge and therefore accommodating a spout positioned above the rim of the bucket.

To hold the cover in the closed position, clasp ears 21 are formed on the cover at opposite sides, and depending from the edge thereof; the clasps are sufficiently resilient to spring over the rim A at opposite sides and will readily yield to an upward pull on the cover or upward pressure thereon.

It will be observed that the cover is depressed at diametrically opposite sides, adjacent to the clasps 21, to rest on the rim of the pail.

It is the practice in gathering sap to tap and as the number of tappedtrees may be very large, not infrecollecting of the of the bucket, it being unnot gathered, and in the pails carried by the workmen is often required to be done very expeditiously, under threatening weather conditions. I provide an improved target in connection with my cover, whereby to insure that the sap will be collected from all the tapped trees, the relative arrangement of the target and cover being such that a minimum amount of time will be required in removing the spout and properly displaying the target. The target may consist of a disk 22 preferably rectangular, having a hinge knuckle 22 embracing the hinge bar 13 between the cover knuckles 10 The connection permits of the swinging of the target from a position lying flat on top of the cover, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, to a suspended vertical position at the outside of the bucket, as shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. With the ordinary cover each sap gatherer is requiredto set down his pail, often inmoist snow, so as to remove the cover entirely, or to hold it open with one hand while the sap is emptied into the gathering gether with the replacing of the cover, uses up valuable time, when the storm threatens to melt the snow and prevent the return of the sleigh from the woods. With my improved cover and target the latter will lie on top of the cover, and in the first gathering of the sap from the different trees the swinging of the cover to the open position will throw the target to the vertical position. The sap of the particular bucket having been collected, the cover is thrown upward, leaving the target hanging vertically. Upon a second gathering of the sap from the different buckets after the cover has been opened and the sap collected, the gatherer will place his hand underthe target as well as under the cover, so that the target as well as the cover will be thrown to the raised position. Thus in the first gathering of the sap, the target on top of the cover will indicate sap second gathering the vertical position of the target will inclicate that the sap is not gathered. It will be seen, therefore, that the target will need the attention of the gatherer only once during the two gatherings, as the targetis automatically thrown when the cover is first opened, and requires to be raised only after the second gathering.

bucket and positioned 3. A cover for sap buckets, a hinge element on which the cover is mounted to swing to dispose the cover over a bucket, or in a position suspended. at the outside of the bucket, lateral arms integral with the said hinge element and disposed below the same, said arms being curved to engage beneath the rim of a bucket, and means on said arms to clasp the upper edge of the bucket.

4. A cover for sap buckets, and means to hingedly support the cover on a sap bucket, said means comprising an arched central member, lateral curved arms at the sides of said member curved to follow the curved lines of around bucket and depending clips on said arms.

5. A cover for sap buckets, and means to hingedly support the cover on the bucket, said means comprising a bar on which the cover is mounted to swing, and means below the hinge bar to detachably engage the bucket, said hinge bar being offset outwardly from the said bucket engaging means'to dispose the hinge of permit the cover to be suspended outside of the bucket.

6. A cover for sap buckets, a hinge bar on the cover is mounted to swing, and clips connected being elevated above the clips to hold the Copies of thin patent may be obtained for the cover in a position to v with the bar, said hinge bar five cents each, by addressing the Washington. I). G."

cover raised, and being oflset in a plane rearwardly of the clips permitting the cover to be swung to a position over the bucket or freely suspended in a plane rearward of the said clips.

7 A cover, cover' on a bucket, and a target said cover-sustaining means to swing to a position on top of the cover or to hang in a freely suspended position independently of the cover at approximately a right angle to the closed position of the cover. A

8. A cover for sap buckets, a hinge element on which the cover is mounted to swing, members extending downwardly from the ends of the hinge element, the lower ends of said members being bent forwardly, curved members integral with said forwardly bent members and adapted to engage beneath the bead of a bucket, and clips to engage the bucket rim, said clips includin members extending downwardly from the forward ends of the curved members, and then return bent to present upwardly extending members crossing the said curved members at the outside of the latter, and down-turned resilient members integral with the said upwardly extending members and at the inside of the curved members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK EZRA KINNEY.

Witnesses:

WAYNE S. NEALY, G. N. JORDAN.

means to hingedly sustain a hinged on "Commissioner of Patents, 

